I would just like to share that I work with Aubrey Hodges's brother here in Cincinnati.

I just found this out today, and about crapped myself, lol.

I got into a discussion with him on a another guy who I knew worked at Midway games that worked on NBA Jam after he mentioned his brother worked there and did some music for games... I was like "Oh yeah? Who"

And he's like "Aubrey Hodges... did final doom, doom, doom 64 music for the console version".

He immediately texted him for proof, in which his bro did respond verifying everything he told me and pulled up a few family photos... Of course they both share the last name Hodges, and they look like identical twins.

Just thought I'd share, folks!

btw, here's Aubrey's bro, one of the network engineers I work with on a vast many projects..

Aubrey Hodges worked at 38 studios? There is still a huge shitstorm going on over here in RI because their game failed big time when it came to sales. Apparently RI's government loaned 38 studios a crapload of money to develop the game, and now they can't pay the state back because the game didn't sell as many copies as expected. The economical situation in this state is already pretty crappy, so this incident really made all the higher-up officials look like idiots for investing so much money in it. It's all I heard about on the news a couple of months back, but I never saw Hodges included in any of the footage.

Anyway, that's pretty awesome working with his brother. You should tell him that his brother's work on PSX Doom/Doom 64 is still pretty popular in the Doom community.

I knew who did the console version of DOOM's music for a long time, hell, even have the entire score of both PSX and DOOM 64 for absolution on my Google music account, right under his very name, just didn't put 2-and-2 together until he's like "Yeah, my bro did doom's console music" and I was like "You gotta be kidding me" and he busted up laughing like "nope". Same thing I said "small effin world, man"

Seriously though, the guys look like twins, lol. Thinking about asking him to get my DOOM 64 cartridged signed (or my DOOM PSX case, not sure which)if his bro is ever in town.

Then got into a debate about the MIDI rock music done for the PC version vs. what Aubrey did (the spooky, eerie atmospheric music). I personally loved them both, and each one fit perfectly in the respective releases of DOOM.

Just odd, you know? Grow up admiring these guys that made your childhood games come to life, and here I am at age 30 having runs in with their family or them personally on a random chance. I've had direct discussions with John Romero in the past at events and over forums and facebook, so that was gret stuff. And now get to work alongside someone who's like "ah, yeah, dude who did the music for DOOM 64 is my bro... no biggie".

You admire these guys, never expecting in a million years to have some run in to them or anyone they know for that matter, and yet, here it is... some of the greatest suprises ever, definitely!

I brought it up in discussion again today with Eugene, and he happily stated that Aubrey loves doing music, that he has a amazing natural talent with a piano or keyboard, and that he sincerely appreciate all the thanks and gratitude from his fans. He went into detail about some of the DOOM PSX music and sound fx, stating that Aubrey told him "You'd never believe where I got the sounds for some of the FX in there.... some of grunts/growls/etc came from something as simple as a popcan in a toilet bowel making just the right "squish" sounds in the water and then recording it and transforming into a nightmarish howl for the game".

What I asked, and I truly enjoy the response, is "How would someone even think of some of the atmospheric tunes that haunted the halls of DOOM 64/PSX?". He said "He would just watch and visualize the audio. It came naturally to him. Just watch and "feel" the atmosphere, the sounds that follow, and apply it as it was sensed. Pure natural talent." He also stated that Aubrey is "one of those people who everyone has heard at least once or twice in their life while playing a video game, whether they knew it or not."

My favorite track had to be the DOOM PSX track for level 02 "The Plant"... I remember listening to that eerie echoes, you could feel them rolling ghostly throughout the dark emptiness of the lone space station, the howling lunar winds through the tunnels and halls and open outdoor complex areas, distant and sad, like perhaps now the halls remain still, the dust settled, and this complex sits abandoned, though its haunted horrific past is forever embedded into the walls. I could almost picture myself walking through those halls, no life there anymore, but almost hear the howl/echoes that the track portrays. I was obsessed with these tracks growing up just as I was obsessed with the game. I had always wondered how someone could literally have the game "speak" to them and then manifest what they heard into the soundtrack we have in front of us. Finally got my answer today =D

I think, for me, the golden ticket has always been meeting the people behind what inspires me and what I took interest in and loved growing up and even to this day.... I would rather meet the guy behind my favorite novels, technology, games, music, movies, etc than I would want to win the lottery. Just the few rare minutes to talk to these inspiring people is worth more to me than any amount of money... What they have to say and how they do it is priceless to me.

Thanks for all this info. Aubrey's Doom music is truly amazing and it's really good to get a bit of background insight via a route where there is no reason to give a "clever" interview or anything. You're just reporting stuff as his brother told it to you. Very interesting. Very fresh.

Speaking of interviews, I don't suppose you'd be able to manage one with Aubrey (possibly via his brother) at some point in the future? I'm sure people around here would love to read it (and possibly contribute questions).

You should see if he would be willing to give you info on the samples used for theme and intermission sequences. Maybe we could recreate them instead of using mp3's. Or make similar sounding alternatives for future projects! E-mails have not been sucessfull! I have tried!

jute said:His soundtrack to Quest for Glory 4 is one of the all time greats, truly masterful.

The monastery theme is quite amazing, I LOVED that game when I was little. Telltale Games, the makers of Walking Dead are making a new King's Quest game! PErhaps we will see a quest for glory game too.

Shane - A personal request of mine, something that's been bugging me for years, there's a track on the 9th level of Doom - 'Deimos Anomally', and I am sure there is a time stretched sample of a voice saying "tell me why", am I right? Can you confirm this, if so where did it come from?! Any other weird samples in there you can shed some light on for the fans?

Aubrey - I did use a spoken phrase in that piece from a previous game but I can neither confirm or deny itís exact content. Hehe

I emailed Aubrey a couple times - Always quick to respond and seems to really love talking about sound design. I was almost positive that the string arrangements were sampled from a Korg M1 or X5/3. So much so that I bought two X5s to achieve that sound. Turns out that it was a software sample library provided by Midway.

On the topic of sound design; I don't know how much Id paid Trent Reznor for his work on Quake, but my god did he do a lazy job. In the General Sound Library, nearly every sound from Quake (and Doom/Duke for that matter) is confined in a few master sound files and ripped with little to no manipulation. Could have been done in a couple of hours. Granted, Trent's music was pretty kick-ass, but at least Bobby Prince would combine / pitch shift sounds to make them sound somewhat unique from the source material.

I guess i had the wrong e-mail? So the instruments aren't available other then through Midway? With the Korgs that you bought, were there any distorted guitars that sounded like the one he used? From the N64 rom file, Kaiser was able to get most of the samples. Only thing was the theme and intermission etc. were done using clips pieced together, guitar i think is the only thing really missing for that reason!

Ed said:I emailed Aubrey a couple times - Always quick to respond and seems to really love talking about sound design. I was almost positive that the string arrangements were sampled from a Korg M1 or X5/3. So much so that I bought two X5s to achieve that sound. Turns out that it was a software sample library provided by Midway.

On the topic of sound design; I don't know how much Id paid Trent Reznor for his work on Quake, but my god did he do a lazy job. In the General Sound Library, nearly every sound from Quake (and Doom/Duke for that matter) is confined in a few master sound files and ripped with little to no manipulation. Could have been done in a couple of hours. Granted, Trent's music was pretty kick-ass, but at least Bobby Prince would combine / pitch shift sounds to make them sound somewhat unique from the source material.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you all my have here and do an exclusive for Doomworld. My brother did in fact mention to me that he had spoken to someone at his job who appreciated my work and I thought that was kind of cool. Here are a couple of answers to a few questions/comments that are already posed on this forum:

2. As to "fading in obscurity". LOL, Since DOOM/QUAKE I have done and continue to do AAA titles such as: "NFL Blitz", "Madden NFL" 2004-2009, "NCAA Football" 2004-2009, "NASCAR" 2004-2009, "Dragonvale", "Paper Toss", "Ragdoll Blaster" 2 and 3, and my latest "Gizmonauts" for iOS which climbed to the top 10 iPhone app charts in only a matter of days. I have passed the 200 games mark now and am still goin strong!

3. Thank you for the kind words regarding my QFG4 work. I love working with those folks. Very fun game to be involved with and they let me be as creative as I wanted. The risks paid off.

4. That picture that was linked is the worst ever :( It did serve as a wake up call and since then I have lost 54 pounds and am still working toward another 50. It was much easier to put it on than get it off...I can assure you! Stress, poor diet, and not enough excercise was killing me. Thank God I have changed my habits...I feel much better. Here is a more recent picture: http://f0.bcbits.com/z/54/18/54186244-1.jpg

If this is the real Aubrey Hodges and not some imposter*, then I have to say it's an honour to have you posting on Doomworld. Your work on PSX Doom, PSX Final Doom and Doom 64 forged some fond childhood memories of mine, and in my opinion made a great game even greater.

*Doomworld is no stranger to celebrity posters, having had John Carmack himself join us in the past, so my gut tells me you're the real deal and I'm willing to go with that belief.

Good to see you posting Aubrey and thanks for the link to that album. It sounds great. A belated thanks for your work on the Doom music too. It's a great and very atmospheric soundtrack and my favourite thing about Doom64

On the "Danny Won" video, a lot of the time it sounds like "damn anyone" to me.

Great to see you on the boards, Aubrey. Just want to say thanks for making what was already a great game even better. The Computer Station and Mt. Erebus themes are two of the finest pieces of game music ever created IMO.

I'm listening to the new stuff as I type, definitely invokes the feel of running through those corridors again. Need to get this album for the dark nights ahead >:D

Hey Aubrey, good to see you on Doomworld! Nothing freaked me right out as much as your music did when I first heard it as a kid in 1997. Really good stuff! Hearing more traditional music you've done is great as well.

Thank you for the warm welcome. As far as proof of my identity I would be open to a Skype call from the administrator of the site if that makes everyone feel more comfortable. As far as my new music is concerned I am actually working on a follow up album to "Journey Into The Dark Places" entitled "Journey Into The Sacred Places". I know that may not seem all that exciting since it isn't so dark in nature, but, I can assure you it's an hours worth of really moody and relaxing music. One fact known to those closest to me is that I am a very compulsive composer. I am not happy in my life unless I am creating music and my entire thought process is dominated by the need to create. So, even between projects I compose. Due to the nature of my career I no longer have a singular musical identity or style. I indulge in just about all styles these days. Take a listen to my latest soundtrack for something really different... http://soundcloud.com/backflipstudi...uts-soundtrack/
I do appreciate all the kind comments regading my work and will answer any questions if I am able. Regards, -Aubrey